Preparation of sausage casings for stuffing



feb. s, 1927. 1,616,971

W. F. HENDERSON PREPARATION oF sAUsAGE cAsINGs-FOR STUFFING Filed Aug. 20, 1926 1 6 1 f1 f a @il l ZM/w being` introduced in" the free end of the Patented Feb. s, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

WILLIAM I". HENDERSON, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR To THnvIsKINGv COR- I'ORATION, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or VIRGINIA.

PREPARATION OF SAUSAGE CASINGS FOR STUFFIN'G'.

I `Application led August 20, 1926. Serial No. 130,462.

This invention relates particularly to a method of preparing sausage-casings to far cilitate stuffing. The method involves the loading ofv the casings on storage-mandrels in such condition thatl casings may be preserved indefinitely and may be used in packving houses to meet requirements.

The improved method is particularly de- --sirable in connection with the handling of cellulose casings, but may be employed yery advantageousl in connection with animal casings, resulting in a large saving 1n either case.

A cellulose casing particularly well'adapted to the present purpose is described in an application of William F. Henderson and Harold E. Dietrich, Serial No. 101,952,

filed in the United States Patent Office April 14, 1926, such casing being formed by extruding viscose into tubular form and coagulating the viscose; purifying the casing; introducing into the casing a small percentage of a hygroscopic agent, such as glycerin; and drying the casing.

The same application describes a method of treating animal casings in such mannen as to enable them to be properly preserved and readily used, without loss of casings. The treatment referred to comprises int-roducing into the animal casing a hygroscopic agent and infiating and drying the casing, the inflation being preferably Within a limiting tube which facilitates the production of a casing of SubstantiallyT uniform diameter.

According to the resent process, dried casings, whether arti cial casings or intestinal casings, preferably having embodied therein a small percentage of a hygroscopic agent, such` as glycerin, are loaded in shirred condition upon a mandrel, which preferably is in form of a wooden rod, but

which maybe tubular and which should be of suitable material to prevent deterioration under atmospheric conditions. The Casin s thus loaded Onstorage-mandrels may be shlpped to packing houses and preserved indefinitely.' When it is desired to use casing for stutling purposes, the storage-v mandrehwhich is provided with a reduced cgtremity, is brought'into alinement with tthelstuf'ter horn' of, the stuffing machine, the re'duced extremity of the storage-mandrel collapsible mandrel carried by a suitable standard, the mandrel being shown incollapsed condition; Fig. 2, asimilar View showing the mandrel in expanded condition and having shirred thereon a sausage casing; Fig. 3,' a sectional View taken as indicated at line 3 of Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a similar sectional AView showing the collapsible mandrel in expanded condition; Fig. 5 is a broken View, partly in section, illustrating the manner in which' the storage-mandrel is brought into alined engagement with the forming, collapsible mandrel, after the latter has been collapsed to facilitate the transfer of the shirred casing to the storage-mandrel; Fig. 6 is a view of the storage-mandrel having the shirred casing loaded thereon and retained in position by means of rubber bands,

or rings; Fig. 7 is a broken View illustrating thc manner 1n which the storage-mandrel is alined with the stutter horn of the sausage machine when the casing is to be transferred to the 'stuiler horn; and 8 1s a View of the stuffer horn havmg the Casing 1n shirred condition thereon, ready for the stuffing opsausage casing in. shirred-condition; C, thcstorage mandrel; and D, a stui'er horn of a sausage machine D. y

The collapsible mandrel A preferably comprises a pair of approximately hal, circular sections 1 and 2, of Suitable length. Assuming that We are dealing with a casing about one inch in diameter and that it is desired to mount about thirty-five feet of casing, the mandrel A preferably is of about cleven-sixteenths inch diameter when expanded and about five-eighths inch diameter when collapsed; anda suitable length is V The lower section 2 of 7' of the standard. The section 1 surmounts the section 2 and extends through the .perforation in the standard A. The section 1 Sis secured in position by half-collars 4l and set screws 4a.

The inner, or meeting, surfaces of the rodsections 1 and 2 are recessed at their supported ends to provide a bore 5 adapted to receive a plunger 6 mounted on a lever 7. By inserting the plunger, the mandrel is expanded, it being not'ed that the perforation through the standard A is large enough to permit the upper section 1 of the mandrel to rise When the rod 6 is inserted.

Assuming the shirring. mandrel to be in the expanded condition shown in Fio. 2, the casing, preferably in substantially dry condition, is gathered, or shirred, onto the mandrel, thus establishing a suitably large internal diameter for the shirred casing. The mandrel A is then collapsed, and the storage-,mandrel C, which is provided With areduced extremity 8, is brought into alinement with the shirring-mandrel and the reduced extremity of the storageanandrel is introduced into an end-recess 8*l with which the collapsiblemandrel is provided. The shirred casing B is then moved bodily, by sliding movement, onto the storage-mandrel C. This may be accomplished conveniently by placing upon the shirring-mandrel A a metal Washer 9 previous to the operation of loading the casing onto the shirring-mandrel, and subsequently employing the Washer 9 as a means for sliding the shirred casing onto the storage-mandrel.

The rear end of the storage-mandrel pref- .erably has fitted thereon a rubber ring 10 against Which one end of the shirred casing abuts. After the casing has been transferred to the storage-mandrel, another rubber ring 11 is placed in position to serve as a retainer.

The storagefmandrel preferably consists of a Wooden rod produced from a suitable Wood adapted to give a smooth finish. Maple serves the purpose very Well, but other woods Will answer the purpose. These Wooden mandrels can be produced very cheaply. slightly less than the diameter of the shirring-mandrel A `in its collapsed condition, thus further facilitating the transfer of the shirred casing from the shirring-mandrel to the storage-mandrel.

Dried casings which contain a small pere centage of a hygrosco ic agent attract from the atmosphere a sma suiicient to keep the casing desirably pliable and tenacious. The hygroscopic agent is employed in such smallamount however as to avoid attracting so much moisture as to make the casing feel Wet. In other Words, the casing preferably is substantially dry,

" the moisture attracted byl the hygroscopic They are of a diameter preferably4 l amount of moisture` agent being hardly sensible, but .being suiiicient to preserve softness and pliabihty.

Casings prepared and mounted on storage-mandrels in the manner' described may be conveniently shipped, and may be readily transferred to the .stuifer horn of a sausage stufling machine. The transfer may be eected by entering the reduced end 8 of the storage-mandrel into the free extremity of the stuffer horn, after first removing therubber Washer 11. The transfer may then be effected by sliding the shirred casing bodily onto the stutter horn in an obvious manner. When so mounted, the stuiing operation may be performed in the usual manner. r

The storage-mandrel 8 preferably is suficiently rigid to prevent deforming of the mandrel and the y shirred casing mounted thereon. The shirred casings are thus kept in the best possible condition for storage until needed to. meet the requirements for stuiing in the packing plant. It has been found that paper tubes do not serve Well the purpose of a storage-mandrel, inasmuch -as they tend to soften and disintegrate under atmospheric conditions and to become broken and collapsed, or partially collapsed in handling. Accordingly, `the storage-mandrel should be of material which Will not be injuriously affected by atmospheric conditions,y or by the moderately rough usage to which the product is subjected in transpor` tation and handling.

The foregoing detailedv description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible, in view of the prior art.

What I regard as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is: l

1. rLhe method of preparing a sausage casing for stufling, which consists in shirring the casing on a collapsible shirring-mandrel to give the shirred casing a desired internal diameter, collapsing the shirring-mandrel, and sliding the shirred casing as a unit onto an alined storage-mandrel.

2. The method of preparing a sausage casing which comprises, loading the casing in shirred condition on a storage-mandrel having a reduced extremity, enterin the reduced extremity o-f the storage-man rel into the free end of a stuffer horn of a stuliing machine, and sliding the shirred casing as a unit onto said stuifer horn.

3. The method of preparing a sausage casing and mounting it on a stufe'r horn of a sausage machine, which comprises; shirring -the casing on a collapsible shirringmandrel While in expanded condition to give to the shirred casing a desired internal diameter, collapsing the shirring-mandrel and alined storage-mandrel provided with a restorage-mandrel provided with a reduced duced extremity, entering the reduced eX- extremity, a sausage casing in shirred contremity of the storage-mandrel in the free dition on said mandrel, and retainer rings 10 end of a stufl'er horn of a sausage stung on said mandrel conning the shirred casing 5 machine, and sliding the sliirred easing as between them.

a unit onto said stuffer horn.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a WILLIAM F. HENDERSON. 

